diet profile

kerrbear20

hi, im looking for advise, I'm unsure how to record my diet profile and ultimately the number of calories I should eat. I have a very sedentary job as I work in an office, however, I run 2 evenings per week for 45 mins to an hour, and on Sunday's I run for at least 1-1.5hours. I also attend a strength and conditioning class once a week and try to fit in a spin class. i also have my other house/mummy duties..

do I record my profile as sedentary and record my cardio work as I do it, or do I record another profile and not record cardio - what does everyone else do?

BrettWithPKU

This is a personal-opinion-based question. I vote "sedentary."

I have a desk job but work out 6-7 days a week. I consider it better to go "Sedentary" and tack exercise calories on, than to assume a more physical lifestyle and risk overestimating calorie goals.

malibu927

The way MFP is set up, you lose weight without exercise. That's why it gets logged and calories get added to your goal. Go with sedentary and log your runs, and if after 4-6 weeks you're losing more than you think you should, go up to lightly active (because very few people are truly sedentary). Or, use a TDEE calculator to figure out the average you burn a day, and take 20% off that amount to determine what you will eat each day.

terbusha

I wouldn't worry about your activity level. That is used to suggest a calorie goal for you. It's best to find what works for you by trial and error.

What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to make good progress towards your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, eat so you drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1600 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for 2 weeks. If you lose 1-2 lbs/week, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few cycles, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.